Pakistan’s Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology has expressed grave concern over the large-scale shutdown and restructuring of national scientific institutions, amid revelations that equipment worth around Rs. 1.5 billion has gone missing or been damaged during the process.

Officials informed the committee that several research bodies have been closed, merged, or reorganised under a government decision taken in January 2025, citing performance-based rationalisation. Among the affected institutions is the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, whose premises have now been transferred to NCCIA.

The committee was further told that organisations working in key strategic areas such as alternative energy, water management, housing, and electronics have either been merged or shut down. The National Institute of Technology has been merged into PCSIR as part of the restructuring.

Serious concerns were raised regarding the National Institute of Electronics, where lawmakers reported that laboratory equipment was mishandled during dismantling, with claims that machinery had been left damaged or scattered on the premises. Committee members questioned the absence of any formal disposal or transfer mechanism for such high-value scientific assets.

Institute officials informed the panel that laboratories contained equipment valued at approximately Rs. 1.5 billion, much of which is now unaccounted for. They added that the institute had been actively engaged in chip design and electronics research prior to the shutdown, and no formal approval framework existed for the manner in which facilities were dismantled.

Lawmakers criticised the overall approach, warning that the neglect of electronics and semiconductor-related research could weaken Pakistan’s long-term scientific and technological capacity. The committee chair cautioned that poor handling of scientific infrastructure could cause lasting damage to the country’s innovation ecosystem.